Crown of Thorns - Chapter 4

Crimson Vale Academy—where reputation is currency, and failure is a stain you wear on your sleeve.Behind gothic walls and spotless uniforms, students aren't just educated—they're measured, ranked, and pitted against each other in a brutal meritocracy. Privileges are earned, not given. The strong rise. The weak vanish.Enter Kairon Vale, a transfer student marked Rank D—the bottom of the bottom. No badge. Just a stitched black fang, branding him as “Obsidian”—a warning to others.In a system where points dictate your value, Obsidian-ranked students claw for every opportunity to ascend into the prestigious Golden or Platinum ranks—where comfort, power, and influence await. But for most, it’s a losing battle.Yet Kairon isn’t here to fit in, impress, or play by their rules. Cold, calculating, and impossible to read, he watches the system… and waits. Because while the academy judges worth by numbers and names—he understands something deeper:Everyone wears a mask. And every mask can be cracked.Let the games begin.

Broken-hearted and drunk, Yoshida, a 26-years old salaryman, stumbled upon a runaway-from-home high-schooler on his way back from the bar.

“Hey, you. JK.”*

“What the heck are you doing out here. Go home already.”

“Uncle, let me stay at your place for the night.”

“You can do ‘that’ to me if you let me stay.”

“If you meant that as a joke, it’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking. It’s fine by me.”

“Then allow me to tell you that I have no interest in brats.”

“Hmm?”

“Then, just let me stay.”

Notes:

[*] JK is slang for Joushikousei (high school girl)

What happens when a scientist from a futuristic world reincarnates in a World of Magic and Knights? An awesome MC is what happens! A scientist’s goal is to explore the secrets of the universe, and this is exactly what Leylin sets out to do when he is reincarnated. Dark, cold and calculating, he makes use of all his resources as he sets off on his adventures to meet his goal. Face? Who needs that… Hmmm… that guy seems too powerful for me to take on now… I better keep a low profile for now. You want me to help you? Sure… but what benefit can I get out of it? Nothing? Bye. Hmmm… that guy looks like he might cause me problems in the future. Should I let him off for now and let him grow into someone that can threaten me….. Nahhh. *kill*-

Alternative: Leylin is transported from an advanced technological era into a medieval world— except there’s magic. Equipped with “only” his quick wits and an A.I. chip fused to his soul, he sets out to become the most powerful magus the world has ever known. In a land divided into the Light and Dark Magi, the weak can either be cattle or disposable slaves. Only the strong can determine their lives, and only they have the luxury for virtue. Yet strength is only a tool for Leylin, like any other. His goal, in the end, is his own.

In her previous life, as Yun Xi lay on her deathbed due to a terminal illness, her famous painter husband said to her heartlessly, “Yun Xi, let’s get a divorce. I would never marry you if I knew that your sister was the one who saved me.” Yun Xi was dumbstruck. It was actually her who saved Mo Ran! She struggled to look at her sister, Yun Lian to see what was going on. Yet, what she saw made her heart sink into her stomach. Yun Lian lowered her gaze as she said, “Sister, I’m sorry. My Brother-in-law and I truly love each other. I’ve been hiding this for so long now, and I can’t hide it any longer.”